Whitney & Rob

Aug. 13, 2011

Walker Art Center

Photography by Clewell Photography

Whitney was not one of those girls who always dreamed about her wedding day. But she is the kind of woman who knows what she wants. So when she saw Rob at a bar while celebrating a friend’s bachelorette party, she knew she had to make a move. “Another girl who was with the bachelorette party was hitting on him, and I was like, ‘Oh no, he is just my type,’ so I barreled my way over there and introduced myself.”

Thus began a quick, effortless courtship (“I told her I loved her after about two weeks,” says Rob) spurred by mutual friends and a shared love of travel. It was while traveling to Greece that Rob proposed to Whitney in 2010.

By then, the couple had been to enough weddings to know what they liked and didn’t like. Rob didn’t want a traditional church wedding and sit-down dinner. Whitney wanted a formal black-tie event with a modern feel. “We really wanted to have a more modern approach to not only our wedding and the way it was structured but also the food and the way people were served,” says Whitney. “We wanted something that was conducive to a party atmosphere while also maintaining lots of intimacy for our guests.”

The couple accomplished that with an elegant ceremony on the terrace of the Walker Art Center, featuring a white and green color palette patterned after Whitney’s mother’s wedding dress. Next up was cocktail hour in Gallery 8, followed by a reception in the Skyline Room that was completely geared toward celebration, with a 10-piece band, a five-hour open bar, and a late dinner of burgers and fries. “We wanted it to be a celebration above all else and to facilitate celebration at every point, from the band to the way that we didn’t have assigned seating,” says Whitney.

In the end, she and Rob were able to get exactly what they wanted—as Whitney puts it, “the baddest party that’s ever existed, with free-flowing liquor and incredible music and good friends.”